


post trauma

by brahms



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Credence Barebone Gets a Hug, Credence Barebone Needs a Hug, Fluff and Angst, Grindelwald can choke, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, in a world where the real percival tries to teach not dead credence magic, these boys need love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 04:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9219203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brahms/pseuds/brahms
Summary: In which Graves reprimands Credence and almost instantaneously regrets it.





	

''Heavens!  _ What _ were you thinking?'' Graves' tone is sterner than he could ever remember it being as he reprimands the boy, who hunches over even further in his usual attempt at making himself small. Credence swallows thickly, doing everything he can to avoid Graves' gaze. He doesn’t want to see Mr. Graves disappointed in him. 

 

He’d failed to control his Obscurus again. Graves had managed to calm him, and Apparate them back to his home before anyone could happen upon the now destroyed clearing in a far off forest. But Credence knows that he can't be taught magic if he can't control the beast that resides in the pit of his stomach. He knows that he’s worse off for it, that once again the darkness in his veins has taken over his life and kept him from the things he desperately needs.  _ It’s your fault _ , the animal in his belly provides. Credence has no bravado to silence it.

 

''I'm sorry, I didn't mean-''

 

''You could have gotten hurt, Credence.'' Graves interrupts sharply, brows furrowing and his lips tugging into a thin lined frown. He speaks in a way that makes Credence think for a moment that he’s only upset because he cares, but he remembers his mother and the thought is ruined.

 

_ ‘’I’m doing this because I love you, Credence.’’ _

 

The memory makes a piercing sickness thrash at his lungs. He knows it’s the animal, rearing to protect him from something that isn’t there anymore. Graves regrets speaking so harshly when he sees wetness in the corner of Credence's eyes, but before he can apologize, the boy is sniffling.

 

''Mr. Graves...'' He murmurs in his broken, croaky sort of way, his hands moving downwards against his own trousers. Shame seems to out rule the fear in his disposition, and his fingers fiddle with a buckle.

 

Horror coils within Graves' stomach when he realizes that Credence is reaching for his belt. He watches with a suffocating tightness in his chest as Credence removes the garment, folding it and handing it to Graves with a melancholy about him that tugs at Graves’ heart. 

 

He's expecting Graves to beat him. Just as Mary Lou had done when she was still alive, unleashing ‘righteous’ punishment on her son at every turn, every sin she saw within him. It unmans him how Credence's shoulders tremble and he fights back sobs, as though he thinks that being noisy will make the beating worse. In Mary Lou's case, it probably had.

 

Graves has never been an easily shaken man before, but now his fingers are unsteady as they clench around the belt in a fist. Credence braces himself automatically, and startles when Graves tosses the belt aside as though the leather is infected. It may as well be. It makes a clattering sound against the wall and hits the floor soon after. He never wants to feel it in his hands again, never wants to touch where that woman had touched every time while she beat Credence within an inch of his life. Had the bitch not already been dead, Graves might have abandoned the boy where he stood and went after her, if only to tear her apart with a killing curse.

 

Or perhaps without magic. He would have very much liked to wrap his hands around the woman’s throat, to watch as life left her No-Maj body. Oh, how he would have reveled in her demise, to know that her death was his doing, to know that  _ he  _ had saved Credence from her reign built on cruelty and fear. Grindelwald be damned, MACUSA be damned. 

 

The boy’s whimpering brings him back to the reality of the situation, and it doesn't take him a second of thought to pull Credence towards him, wrapping his arms around him and holding him to his chest. Credence cries freely now, and not even the warmth of Graves' hand against the nape of his neck can calm him.

 

''Sweet boy, darling boy... No more belts.'' Graves decides in a soothing mutter, his fingers carding through Credence's hair. Credence whimpers again, the sound pathetic and quiet and caught in his throat. He's desperate for contact that won't end in him hurting, Graves has known it from day one. Credence is touch starved, having never felt warmth or softness before Graves.

 

''Please...'' The boy shudders, and it is now that Graves realizes that his fingers are pressing into Credence's neck. He loosens his grip, but it only makes Credence whine, so he tightens it again. This time he elicits a sigh.

 

''You’ll never feel a harmful touch from my hands, Credence.'' Graves promises, pulling Credence up to his full height, pressing a lingering kiss to the boy's temple. Credence is cold to the touch, but Graves’ lips are warm and the boy relaxes further. ''I will never hurt you. Nobody will, not ever.''

 

As he pulls Credence closer, he knows his own gaze has darkened. Now more than ever he's filled with contempt for Mary Lou Barebone. It goes unseen by the younger man, his face buried in the crook of Graves' neck while he continues to sob, now more so out of relief.

 

''Shh, shh… It's alright.'' Graves whispers against the boy’s pale skin. Credence goes quiet, his tears spent and his breath coming short. 

 

“You won’t punish me?” He asks with uncertainty, and Graves tilts Credence’s chin up to look him in the eyes. The contact makes the younger man shiver. 

 

“You've not done a thing to deserve it, my boy.” The man assures, wrapping an arm around Credence’s waist. They stay like that for awhile, Credence breathing softly and Graves running his hands along the expanse of his back to soothe him. 

 

The animal within Credence settles.

**Author's Note:**

> my friend didn't want to proof read this for me because i made her cry the last time she beta'd one of my fics. anyway grindelwald and johnny depp can both choke amirite?


End file.
